Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya, Sun 24.5.09, Afternoon
Qalandiya Checkpoint
– Two ambulances arrived at the northern side of the checkpoint. They had received a call from the Red 
Crescent station at east Jerusalem, asking them to wait at the checkpoint and transfer back into the West Bank some patients whose permits had expired. One of the crews told us they were waiting for a patient who was dieing of cancer and wished to end his life among his family in Palestine.
The ambulances who were supposed to bring the patient to the checkpoint hadn't yet arrived. They hadn't finished with all the bureaucratic procedures.
We got the impression that the highhanded attitude was to be encountered with not only in cases of the invalid transportation- after all, we are all familiar with the Palestinian habit of inserting bombs inside baby diapers and ambulances, even when they are entering the occupied territories.
Is the country endangering itself by allowing invalids and dieing people to enter Palestine?
– A young man that passes at the checkpoint every day, said to us: "Every day I see you here, and nothing changes, everything either stays the same or gets worse". We couldn't contradict his conclusion. 
- We met a family: A mother, father and three young children. Their temporary permit which enables them to live together had expired and wasn't renewed. The mother, who is a resident of the Occupied Territories came out weeping from the DCL office, as one of her children was left in Jerusalem and now she wouldn't be able to go and see him.
- We passed the checkpoint escorted by our friend H, who had to take of his belt for the inspection. Haya asked why her belt didn't cause the metal detector to bip, as his did. His answer was: "I have an occupied belt and you don't".
A person named K' came to speak with us. A about a week earlier when he was at the checkpoint, a little girl got her hand stuck in the conveyer belt on the x ray machine, and she bruised herself. K' rushed to help her: her got they girl's hand out of the belt and called an ambulance. He then saw her off to the ambulance. He later discovered that his cell phone had disappeared. He went back to the soldiers and asked them to try and find out what happened to his phone. The soldiers who sat behind the bullet proof window: "laughed at me and told me to get lost", K' told us. He is a man of dignity: he filed a complaint at the police station at Neve Ya'acov, and headed back to the checkpoint and complained before the officers and commanders. They all wanted to get rid of him. K' accused the soldiers for stealing his phone and demanded that they check the security cameras, his request was denied.
Referred a representative of B'tselem, who promised to file a complaint on his behalf at the Investigation Military Police, and that he would mind this case.
New on the wall
- By the entrance to the vehicle checkpoint there is a drawing of a post card with a stamp that depicts the Omar mosque with inscription from the Koran (that is what we were told).
- Between the drawing of Yasser Arafat and that of Marwan Barguti, and just above, was a drawing of a masked person holding a sling and by him is written: "From Palestine with Love"
- The face of the Mahatma had been distorted and now looks like the face of a monkey, and by it is written: "KING KING".
Jaba/ Leel checkpoint
The soldiers were pulling off (only) vehicles of people with Israeli IDs. This is to show that they are filling in the orders and warring the settlers from entering by mistake in to the A' territories.
Due to Haya O' curiosity regarding the water supply to the neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, we found out that, to our surprise, for two and a half days in the week there is an arrest in the water supply to Beit Hanina and Su'afat (the water supply is the responsibility of the PLO).
The black water tanks are place on top of their roofs in order to over come this problem.
Jaba' (Lil)
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Jaba' (Lil) In fact, the Jaba checkpoint is east of the Qalandiya checkpoint. Its declared purpose is the prevention of Israeli citizens from entering Area A. A road checkpoint for vehicles, located on Road 65, borders the southern fence of Kfar Jaba, about three kilometers east of the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the road leading to the settlement of Adam on Road 60. Archaeological excavations within the village found the remains of a cloth house from the First Temple period. The events that led to the construction of the checkpoint are precisely here: on the day of the abduction of Gilad Shalit and before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a 17-year-old man from one of the settlements was abducted by a Palestinian cell. His body was found several days later at the entrances to Ramallah. A military investigation revealed that his abductors had taken him along this route. The checkpoint was set up to prevent future kidnappings and to warn settlers from traveling to Ramallah and entering Area A (which is forbidden for Israelis). The checkpoint that operates around the clock. Usually only vehicles traveling in the direction of Ramallah are inspected. (November 2016): Every morning, when the settlers en masse travel to Jerusalem on Route 60 and every afternoon they return from Jerusalem on Route 60, the army initiates a traffic jam at the entrance to the Jaba checkpoint and stops the movement of Palestinians traveling toward Route 60. (February 2020): In the last two years the checkpoint has not always been manned. Sometimes the soldiers come and just stand, sometimes they come and stop and check those who enter the village, sometimes they patrol the alleys of the village, sometimes they fire stun grenades and gas and sometimes they invade houses and stop young people, say those passing through the Hazma checkpoint. (Updated February 2020)
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Qalandiya Checkpoint / Atarot Pass (Jerusalem)
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Click here to watch a video from Qalandiya checkpoint up to mid 2019 Three kilometers south of Ramallah, in the heart of Palestinian population. Integrates into "Jerusalem Envelope" as part of Wall that separates between northern suburbs that were annexed to Jerusalem in 1967: Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya, and the villages of Ar-Ram and Bir Nabala, also north of Jerusalem, and the city itself. Some residents of Kafr Aqab, Semiramis and Qalandiya have Jerusalem ID cards. A terminal operated by Israel Police has functioned since early 2006. As of August 2006, northbound pedestrians are not checked. Southbound Palestinians must carry Jerusalem IDs; holders of Palestinian Authority IDs cannot pass without special permits. Vehicular traffic from Ramallah to other West Bank areas runs to the north of Qalandiya. In February 2019, the new facility of the checkpoint was inaugurated aiming to make it like a "border crossing". The bars and barbed wire fences were replaced with walls of perforated metal panels. The check is now performed at multiple stations for face recognition and the transfer of an e-card. The rate of passage has improved and its density has generally decreased, but lack of manpower and malfunctions cause periods of stress. The development and paving of the roads has not yet been completed, the traffic of cars and pedestrians is dangerous, and t the entire vicinity of the checkpoint is filthy. In 2020 a huge pedestrian bridge was built over the vehicle crossing with severe mobility restrictions (steep stairs, long and winding route). The pedestrian access from public transport to the checkpoint from the north (Ramallah direction) is unclear, and there have been cases of people, especially people with disabilities, who accidentally reached the vehicle crossing and were shot by the soldiers at the checkpoint. In the summer of 2021, work began on a new, sunken entrance road from Qalandiya that will lead directly to Road 443 towards Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. At the same time, the runways of the old Atarot airport were demolished and infrastructure was prepared for a large bus terminal. (updated October 2021)
Tamar FleishmanApr-12-2026Qalandiya. Abdallah at his fruit stand
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